CRITICAL BUG with co-hosting (lack of) access--WHEN WILL THS BE FIXED???

[Jo-and-Ivan0]

I'm both the primary host of a listing--supported by a co-host--and serve as co-host for a couple of listings.  

Since early December, my co-host and I have encountered a number of technical glitches specifically having to do with a cohost's access / security privileges, which are negatively impacting the guest experience.

In a nutshell, though I'm officially a co-host of a particular listing, I lost access to the message thread with a guest.  The thread disappeared entirely from my Airbnb Inbox, and if I try to access via the Calendar view the booking and then the message thread, I got a "You don't have access to this thread" error.  When the guest replies, I *may* re-gain access to the message thread, only to lose it again later after I send a reply.  Similarly, if the guest wishes to alter the booking, I can't review the request or approve it.  

I have received (some of the) notifications sent to my regular email--however clicking via the regular email while I'm on my laptop or iPhone gets me the same "access" error message/glitch.  In some cases, say when the (primary) host sends a message to the guest, I don't even get the email or mobile phone notifications anymore and had to ask my co-host/host if a message was sent.  Previously I would have received a mobile phone notification and an email.

The above "restricted access" issues have happened to me:

* Multiple times with the same guest/message thread

* More than one guest/message thread for the same listing

* More than one listing

* Regardless of whether I access Airbnb from my iPhone or laptop (via Google Chrome)

And it has only become more frequent in the last 3 weeks. 

The same is happening to my co-host when she's trying to help out on messages for guests booked at the listing where I'm the primary host.  Similar (lack of) access issues are occurring with respect to writing guest reviews.  As a co-host I was able to write guest reviews, but not since December.

All this despite our making NO changes to our listings, hosting/cohosting arrangements, etc.

I called Customer Service on at least two occasions before Christmas, and though they were able to replicate the issue, they refused to escalate and keep open a support ticket because apparently the Engineering is already aware of this and has been working on it. For the last 3+ weeks there have been no updates or resolutions, so we tried the following workarounds ourselves but none worked:

* Removing myself as a co-host and then adding me back on--or removing my co-host from the listing where I'm the primary host and adding her back on.  It worked only temporarily and we started to encounter the same issues again.

* Re-installing the app, clearing cache, logging out, etc.  Been there, done it.

Searching the Airbnb community for cohost (lack of) access issues has revealed I'm NOT the only host/co-host encountering this.  There were several similar posts from prior years but those seem to be unrelated.  I can't help but have the suspicion Engineering has implemented last month some non-essential oh-so-clever "coding enhancement" and in the mean time broke the rather MISSION CRITICAL security model governing host/cohost system privileges.

How are we able to stay on top of guest communications, enquiries, etc. when our system access is being hindered by these technical glitches--and seemingly little Engineering attention is assigned to resolve this ASAP???   There is SIGNIFICANT IMPACT to the guest not to mention the hosting experience...but let's not kid ourselves which one Airbnb priorities. 

[Jo-and-Ivan0]

@Patrick1962  and @Ally-and-Blake2 I'm sorry to hear you're having co-host related issues as I knew how frustrating it was back in January when it was essentially preventing me from...co-hosting.  The bug was impacting a lot of people and thankfully it went away.

Someone had recommended removing oneself as a co-host and adding back later.  I tried that then and it actually didn't work. Even worse it made the past messages you sent to prospective and booked guests unaccessible.

I infrequently encounter issues like not receiving any app notification, but it's rare enough that I learn to live with it...so hopefully this is not the same/similar bug re-surfacing.

Maybe you should try to escalate this to one of the moderators?  @Susan17 was incredibly informative then but sadly she's no longer past of these forums.

[Patrick1962]

Thanks, @Jo-and-Ivan0 where’s the escalate button...

I posed the question in a Facebook group late yesterday and at least a half dozen people have responded already with the same issue thus far. So I at least know it’s not just me.

basically their remediation was to use the desktop browser instead of iPhone app. This kind of renders the iPhone app useless for co-hosts.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Jo-and-Ivan0 

Maybe you should try to escalate this to one of the moderators?  @Susan17 was incredibly informative then but sadly she's no longer past of these forums.

@Patrick1962 

It might be quicker to ask @Katie  or a mod to send @Susan17  an invite to rejoin the Community Centre?  At least that way replies would be answered quicker than Facebook and AirBnb problems would be kept more private..

You can try tagging the mods by typing their names; @Katie  @Nick  @Stephanie  @Lizzie  @Airbnb  There you go!

[Jo-and-Ivan0]

I think @Stephanie is supposedly on mat leave but then she still seems to post occasionally!  But @Patrick1962 you should follow @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 's advice.

Back in December/January when the problem first surfaced, despite knowing it would be futile I called Airbnb CS and opened a support issue, which was eventually routed to the "Tech team" (or whatever they're called). I would check in with CS every few days then once a week and well...there were no updates despite my pleas how many co-hosts seemed to be impacted (all I got was different variations of "It's an open issue with Tech/the Developers").

When I posted here I think it was @Stephanie who saw my post and raised it with Tech Support and the bug "disappeared" about 2 weeks later.  As many here would point out, the moderators don't actually work for Airbnb, but I'd like to think they somehow influenced the urgency of getting the issue addressed.

[Katie]

Hi there @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 , thanks for the tag. I don't believe you've been in touch with me directly before so it's great to hear from you 😊

@Patrick1962 I'm one of the Community Managers here on the CC. I'm sorry to hear that you're getting this issue with your app. Could you let me know which iPhone model you're on, what iOS it's running, and whether you're on the latest version of the app itself? 

I'd also advise you to reach out to Support directly in the meantime, as this will help ensure that we can follow up on this.

@Jo-and-Ivan0 just a heads up that you're right, Stephanie is on mat leave now, so she won't be able to follow up on anything for the time being, however the rest of the team are here to help as best we can  🙂

[Audrey534]

Same problem here.

[Karen-And-Kurt0]

Same problem  here. Horrible  that a public company  cannot get their advertised systems working.  Thinking of canceling  my 20 or so listing due to us currently  traveling  to AK. If everyone  canceled maybe the would  address this issue. Definitely  going with VRBO  NEXT YEAR.

[Colin106]

I’m with both. Having the same problem with co-host.

VRBO don’t have an option co-host.

VRBO platform works badly. I see on my VRBO calendar that dates are taken by airbnb, but people still try to book.  For the last bank holiday weekend in France I refused 15 bookings. I get so few bookings by VRBO  that I’m thinking of leaving.

[Ginger76]

Same issue as originally reported here, cannot access Messages after becoming a co-host.  We have our own listing as well, but cannot see the listing's messages that we've been added to.   We also had to get support involvement to add us as a co-host, took a few days. 

I wonder if this is related to the new Teams feature? 

[Karen-And-Kurt0]

Same here now in 2022. Bad for a publicco. Going with vrbo next year. Thinking if canceling  20 or so bookings as we are on our  way  to  Alaska  for the summer  AND CANNOT GET THE CO HOSTING TO WORK. WAKE UP AIRBNB!!!

[Gonzalo377]

Hey, this issue is from 2020? I am experimenting that if I try to connect my co-host airbnb account to any channel manager, the listings are not recognized (if I do not own them)... 

How is it possible that, 3 years after, the same issue is still around? I am not understanding it. 

I checked with the channel manager and they say that co-host listings are no longer supported by airbnb integration... but booking.com ones are... I mean.

Anyone knows about this and if there is any horizon to get a solution for this? It is very annoying and creates a lot of issues!